Turning Point usually turns out to be one of the best shows TNA puts on in a year.
Whether it's the security of knowing it's following up on a strong first chapter set up at the yearly Bound For Glory, or just the haphazard good luck of putting the right people in the right matches at the right time, Turning Point usually doesn't suck too hard.
Given, in the last few years, the bar of a "good" TNA PPV has been lowered to the point where almost anything can be considered "good" so long as the talent actually shows up and isn't bombed out of their mind before their match (see this past year's Victory Road), so this really isn't saying much.
A "good" TNA PPV these days mainly consists of a TNA show that doesn't make me want to kick someone's ass afterwards.
Fortunately, for you, my standards haven't been beating so far into a pulp that they no longer matter.
No, rather, I actually still expect and even demand a quality wrestling show for my PPV dollar.
Will TNA be able to deliver on that expectation of quality tonight?
Probably not, but hey, we're here anyway, so let's just get this show over with...
Our opening video features clips of Presidential Scandals, including Nixon's Watergate Scandal, Clinton's Monica Lewinski issues, George W. Bush's assertion of victory in Iraq a decade too soon, and even clips of Barack Obama talking about his dad and opportunity.
This is all interspersed with clips of Bobby Roode's heel turn, and, as a guy who generally likes these more "high-concept" artsy video packages, this one did not make one lick of f*cking sense whatsoever.
If they would have stuck to the theme of Nixon and/or Clinton, you could have made an argument that there's parallels between their lies and Roode's.
Once you bring in W and Obama's relatively non-scandals and talk of Iraq, this thing just falls apart.
Our opening match is for the TV Title, as Eric Young defends the title against Robbie E, accompanied by Rob Terry/Robbie T.
Taz claims that EY is getting an Ozzy Osbourne-like reaction.
How he comes to this conclusion, I have no idea.
Because people are actually cheering?
Hate to break it to you, Taz, but people are SUPPOSED to be cheering for folks at wrestling shows.
Eric Young spends the last half of this match stripping down to lesser and lesser clothes, going from shorts, to trunks, to pink underwear.
Unfortunately, none of this helps, as Robbie E manages to steal the TV title after Rob Terry clips EY's legs out from under him, allowing EY to fall onto the ring apron.
Terry rolls EY back into the ring, and Robbie picks up the pin to become the new TV champion.
Up next, Mexican America (Hernandez, Anarquia, and Sarita) take on Ink Inc. (Shannon Moore, Jesse Neal and Toxxin) for the TNA Tag Team Titles.
Strangely enough, Toxxin is not going with the Mohawk tonight, even though Jesse and Shannon are, as usual.
Don't get this call.
Did they run out of starch or something?
So, the match itself... it's not the 4-star Sarah Stock/Christina Von Eerie showdown I was hoping for.
In fact, it's the complete opposite.
It's Jesse Neal wrestling Mexican America, mostly.
Thankfully, Anarquia has not been allowed to sully the 6th Anniversary of Eddie Guerrero's death by being allowed a microphone and time to do his borderline-offensive Guerrero impression.
Once the women tag in, the match improves a thousand percent.
Unfortunately, after they exchange about three moves, they're brushed to the side so the men can go back to making this match suck, again.
Mexican America eventually retain the belts after blasting Toxxin in the face with a belt, allowing Sarita to get the pin.
We join Jeremy Borash in the back with Kid Kash and Austin Aries.
Kash spouts off about how he's going to win the X-Title, but Aries reminds him that the plan is to make this a 2 on 1 match against Sorenson.
So, expect this to come up in the match, that will probably be next...
We then go to the 3-Way for the X-Division Title as X-Champ Austin Aries defends against Kid Kash and Jesse Sorenson.
Wow, who'd have seen that coming?
The heels stick to the plan for a while, but then they start to bicker a bit, and Sorenson makes a comeback.
The first part of this format lasts, like, 20 years.
Eventually, A Double takes a break on the outside as Kash kills Sorenson with a top rope brainbuster and a Money Maker, then screws Kash by getting Sorenson's foot on the ropes when Kash had the match all but won.
Kash gets mad and bitches out the ref, as A Double dashes in and rolls Kash up for the win, retaining his title.
AJ Styles is in the back with JB, whining about how Bobby Roode is a jerk now, and ruined all the good they've tried to do in the past year.
AJ promises to kick Roode's ass later tonight.
Christopher Daniels tries to talk RVD into making their match a straight-up wrestling match, instead of the No DQ brawl originally scheduled.
Daniels ends up going back on that as the match goes on, introducing a chair and a screwdriver into the match, but it backfires when RVD nails Daniels with the chair.
A 5-Star Frog Splash later, RVD picks up the win.
JB is in the back talking with Robbie E, the new TV Champion.
Robbie promises that he's going to be on our TV screens for a long, long time.
Kill me now...
Matt Morgan vs. Crimson is up next.
You have your basic "big man" match.
They do some tests of strength, then slug it out and throw each other around a bit.
The match is thrown out when the ref feels that both men roughed him up far too much, and DQs both men.
Crimson and Morgan decide to continue fighting anyway, and security is forced to break them up.
Meh...
Apparently, we have Bully Ray and Scott Steiner vs. Mr. Anderson and Abyss coming up next, because we're in the back with JB, talking to Ray and Steiner about Abyss' fat, ugly girlfriend from Parts Unknown.
If you actually paid money for this show, I'd like to let you know that not only did CHIKARA run an iPPV this afternoon, but, as we speak right now, Dragon Gate USA is broadcasting its Freedom Fight 2011 against Turning Point on WNWLive.com.
Had DGUSA put half the effort into promoting their weekend of iPPVs as CHIKARA had into promoting High Noon in the past month, I'd have been able to tell you about this show beforehand, and more of you would be watching that instead of this BS!
Seriously, Gabe Sapolsky - you actually have to ADVERTISE your shows beforehand.
To more than just people who subscribe to your newsletter.
You guys should be OWNING TNA right now!
There's an audience for your product, but you actually have to make an effort to reach out to them and let them know your show exists!
Learn something from CHIKARA, please!
There's no reason why TNA should be getting 8000 buys for this sh*t!
So, anyway, tag match between Bully Ray/Scott Steiner and Abyss/Anderson.
It's pretty bland.
Add the fact that this match has just supposedly been added at the last minute, furthering feuds I don't care about between characters I have nothing invested in, and, yeah... I don't care.
The Impact Zone crowd chants the whole time for Scott Steiner to get tagged in.
Given, Abyss and Anderson are the babyfaces, but hey, at least people are cheering for someone, right?
Abyss gets the Black Hole Slam for the win, but no one gives a sh*t because they're STILL cheering for Scott Steiner, whom Abyss just pinned with the Black Hole Slam.
After the match, Ray gets the table and puts Abyss through it, but he just gets right back up as if nothing happened and Immortal runs off.
In the back, JB is talking with Team Karen.
Karen Jarrett: Knockout Law guarentees that Gail Kim is going to take the KO Title from that skanky whore, Velvet Sky.
Because this is how we want women of supposed class to talk about one another.
Karen then tells Gail that she's going out there to beat Velvet's ass all by herself.
Up next, the Knockouts Title Match, as Velvet Sky defends her title against Gail Kim.
Despite telling Gail she was going to do this on her own, Karen waltzes out about midway through the match anyway.
Gail attempts to make Vel Eat D-Feet, but Vel blocks it.
Karen distracts the ref, Madison Rayne interferes, but Gail only gets a 2 count.
Lather, Rinse, Repeat, as the second time Team Karen pulls the interference, Gail makes Velvet Eat D-Feet and wins the KO Title.
R.I.P.
Velvet Sky's Singles' Career
2011-2011
Bully Ray whines to Eric Bischoff about how Abyss is now super scary and invincible.
Bischoff passes the buck back to Ray, telling him to solve his own problem.
Ray once again reminds us that Abyss no-sold a table, but it still seems like Eric's not getting the message.
Up next, Jeff Hardy takes on Jeff Jarrett for Hardy's right to potentially f*ck up one more time.
Jeff even comes out wearing some weird Ram's Helmet of some sort, something that would likely only seem a good idea to a man on drugs, or possibly Tursas of the BDK.
Jeff Hardy hops into the ring, nails a Twist of Fate, and pins Jeff Jarrett in a matter of about 6 seconds.
Jarrett then demands the match be restarted, and, because... I have no idea why, the ref rings the bell, and the match starts again.
It goes a little longer this time, but the result is the same - Jeff Hardy wins.
As Hardy celebrates his win, Jarrett bashes him with a chair.
Jarrett then drags Hardy back to the ring, again, and forced the ref to restart the match, again, as Karen screams at the ref, "get your f*cking ass in the ring".
That's an exact quote, folks.
So, they restart the match, AGAIN, and AGAIN, Jeff Hardy, nearly dead this time, manages pin Jeff Jarrett for the third time, apparently ending the match for real this time.
Bobby Roode tells Jeremy Borash that he never needed Beer Money or Fortune.
Tonight, Roode wants to smack AJ's ego down a peg.
Main Event Time as AJ Styles and his terrible new theme music goes one on one with Bobby Roode and his stupid new theme song, which seems to have more words added to it every time they play it, as if they didn't have Serg Salinas (Mr. Dixie) record the vocals in time for the song to debut on TV.
By the way, don't be fooled.
Dixie's husband is the voice of Roode's new theme, just as he was the voice of Beer Money's theme, and the male voice in Mickie James' theme, as well.
It's how he helps the cause...
So, while I could say that I was paying 100% attention to this match, I'd be lying.
As this match was going on, I was on Twitter, finding out that Johnny Gargano had just defeated YAMATO for the Open the Freedom Gate Title on DGUSA's Freedom Fight, running against Turning Point as we speak.
Yes, Johnny Gargano is now the Open the Freedom Gate Champion, and DGUSA just teased a Ronin breakup, as Chuck Taylor stole the belt from YAMATO last night after YAMATO retained.
Unlike TNA, though, they didn't kill their hottest babyface faction (or, at least, they aren't going to kill it yet), and Taylor and Gargano hugged as Taylor surrendered the belt to his stablemate.
They then announce that Taylor and Rich Swann are going after the United Gate (Tag Team) Titles, currently held by CIMA and Ricochet of the Blood Warriors, so Ronin can hold all the belts and prove to the Warriors that they truly belong in Dragon Gate.
Meanwhile, in TNA, Bobby Roode defeats AJ Styles to retain the World Title in a decent match that, had I honestly cared, or not otherwise been distracted by news of Johnny Gargano's Freedom Gate Title win, I'd have paid more attention to.
Unfortunately, this is the sort of thing that happens when you don not engage your audience's interest in your show or anyone presented on it.
The match can be good, or even great, and it ultimately doesn't matter, because the audience doesn't give a damn.
Final Thoughts: Basically, I wasted three hours watching a show I had no interest in on a day where not one, but two promotions I actually do give a damn about held major shows and crowned new top champions.
CHIKARA crowned its first Grand Champion, as Eddie Kingston defeated Mike Quackenbush at High Noon earlier today in honor of "Sweet 'n' Sour" Larry Sweeney.
Meanwhile, as AJ Styles was losing to Bobby Roode, Johnny Gargano was making history, becoming the first American to hold the Open the Freedom Gate Championship, defeating YAMATO for the title.
And not only do I feel that my time has been wasted, missing out on a show I would have preferred to see in order to watch a show I had no interest in going in, but the show I did find myself more or less forced to watch did absolutely nothing to reward me for doing so.
Nothing on this show drew my interest, including the two matches I actually did have some interest in, going in, the RVD/Daniels encounter and the Knockouts title match.
I not only feel like my time has been wasted, but I actually feel insulted right now, as a fan.
TNA likely does not see CHIKARA or DGUSA as legitimate competition.
That much is clear.
They'd even have good reason not to, as neither company is any direct threat to TNA's bottom line at the moment.
The problem is when it comes off as if TNA has such little regard for its audience that they outright refuse to put on a consistently quality product that engages its audience and rewards you for your loyalty to their brand.
TNA produced the same BS show they always do, with no regard whatsoever to the fact that the fanbase had not one but two other options to spend their money on, one of which ran directly against their PPV, and did absolutely nothing to reward those who chose to spend their money on the TNA show instead of the DGUSA or CHIKARA shows.
It's not an issue of TNA acting as if DGUSA or CHIKARA was a threat to them, but rather an issue of respecting the fans who chose to spend their money on the TNA show instead.
Instead of rewarding our loyalty to their brand by giving us a memorable show that delivered above and beyond expectations, they just gave us an extended episode of Impact with the same dull characters, lame comedy, illogical stories, and bullsh*t finishes we've come to expect and hate from TNA.
The knowledge that I had other options and could have watched other shows only makes the idea that TNA put no real effort to make this show important, interesting, or memorable even more insulting.
This company, through its actions, not only tonight, but over the past few years, has shown that they don't care about their fans' loyalty enough to reward it, even slightly, and I'm tired of it.
I'm tired of this company asking me to give a damn about it, only to have them pull the rug out from under me seconds later.
I'm tired of being told that I need to sit back and let myself be entertained, just to be presented a show that outright fails to entertain in any possible way.
I'm tired of this, and I don't want to do this anymore.
I can't do this anymore.
I can't sit here and watch a TNA show knowing that shows I have more of a vested interest in are going on at the exact same time.
I can't continue to review a show that doesn't even care to reward me for the near-decade's worth of loyalty I showed to it, becoming the TNA equivalent of what James Bullock is for Ring of Honor for this website.
I can't continue to have a TNA show on in the background while I'm on Twitter talking with Amanda of DirtyDirtySheets.com, asking her about the DGUSA show she was smart enough to be watching instead of this bullsh*t.
I want a better wrestling show, something I clearly am not going to get from this company anymore, and I'm tired of this company constantly spitting in my face instead of doing what it ought, not just for me, but for all its fans, and produce a quality product worth our time, money, and loyalty. It's not that much to ask, but clearly, TNA, you just don't care. This is why you deserve to fail. Maybe, one day, you'll realize that, and do something to stop it before it's too late.
*****
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